Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Yikes: power goes out for some local residents

With the Antarctic weather out there, the worst possible thing I can think of would be if my power went out -- and that's what happened yesterday to some 2100 customers around the 20009 and 20010 zip codes. It seems to have been fixed for most, but some folks are still reporting brownouts, and Pepco's coverage map still showed about 200 people without power in those areas as of last night.

Yesterday ANC commisioner Patrick Flynn tweeted that his power went out, and other local residents said the same thing. Thankfully after about 2 hours it was repaired, but later he reported periodic brownouts.

Pepco, to their credit, was responsive both on Twitter and with crews on the scene, and they also said that if residents report power outages, to either use their mobile app or call 1-877-737-2662 to report on them.

And if you are without power, be careful. Here are some tips for what to do if your power goes out in the winter, and make sure you have some supplies (which are good to have, power outage or not):

A flashlight with extra batteries (placed where you can find it in the dark)